Students frequently create athletic games that can be played indoors where a soft playing ball is used to assimilate the characteristics of a baseball. In dormitories for instance, a soft playing ball is required because of close quarters and the desire to avoid damage to the surroundings while still engaging in a spirited game. Soft athletic playing balls are known for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,598 where the ball comprises a rolled up piece of cloth and/or yarn held together by adhesive tape and disposed within a cover. Such soft core balls can be thrown or hit by youngsters as a real ball but avoids injuries as well as damage indoors to fragile and breakable furniture and windows. Other game balls are known such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,295 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,720, but these balls contain preformed foam and rubber or elastomeric cores.
It now has been found that a pair of ordinary yarn fabricated tube socks made from cotton and/or polyester or similar flexible yarn can be rolled together with little effort to produce a soft athletic ball resembling a baseball. In accordance with this invention, a first tube sock is stretched lengthwise and then rolled into a cylindrical shaped core. The rolled cylindrical core is then located on the toe section of the second stretched sock which is progressively rolled from toe to the ribbed end to form a spherical core. The ribbed open end of the second sock is slipped backwards and stretched over the spherical core to completely surround and enclose the sperical core. The ribbed end section of the second sock is then slipped backwards over the spherical core to form the outer cover of the playing ball. The outer cover can be arranged to partially expose a small portion of opposite ends of the spherical core defined by a first seam and a second seam to assimilate the sewn seams of a baseball. In this manner, a soft harmless playing ball can be fabricated in a matter of a few minutes from a pair of ordinary wearing apparrel socks. The advantages of the invention will become more apparent by referring to the drawings and detailed description of the invention.